The Calm

I'm back writing, the following chapters will be shorter, just so I can focus on my other stories and so I can update more regularly. Right, finally!

In the morning Aela woke refreshed. The sun was shining through the window and she could hear all sorts of creatures calling to one another. Aela placed her hand on the other side of the bed, only to notice no sign of her husband. She sprang up and went out.

He was sitting on the grass, quietly staring into the sky, he was clothed in a simple grey shirt, black trousers and black leather boots. He turned to her and gave a warm smile, "Good morning,"

"Good morning," she responded, her eyes narrowing down to the food beside him.

"Hungry? Come, have some breakfast. Snowberry jam, various fruits from our neighbours in High Rock and Cryrodiil."

She sat beside him and took a bite out of the food, the snowberries were delicious and Skyrim itself was famed to have the best snowberries in all of Tamriel. But what drew her eyes were the food that was rare is to find within Skyrim, especially as the civil war had just recently passed.

"We get more people coming in from all parts of Tamriel, and with them, they bring the finest foods, garments, materials and objects not found within our home. But they look to me to help them, to be the safeguard, I'm just one man, how can I protect them when I can hardly protect myself?"

"You have us," responded Aela.

Dovahkiin lowered his head and silence surrounded them, "I know, but I don't want the closest people to me getting hurt."

The two remained silent for a moment, when Aela remembered something, she stood up and approached her husband, a small smile crawling over her face.

"Follow me," she urged with her head. "We've uncovered something most curious."

"What?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" she smiled widely before dashing away.

She still moved gracefully and elegantly as before, even through her condition, she was still amazing. It was her movement that he missed, among many other of her traits. Her strides were beautiful and unchanged.

After a while, he found himself in a narrow area, covered with ancient writing and ruins not seen for hundreds, if not close to a thousand years. Beyond lay an ancient cavern, or perhaps it wasn't a cavern at all, as the entrance looked similar to the crumbling remains of a hall.

The long years damaged many of the markings, but it still stood the test of time and was readable, the ancient hands of humans and other kind were far more experienced to the present day people. Dovahkiin and Aela entered the hall, vines hanged from the ceiling, it was dark and damp, the mouth of this hall was pitch black and impossible to see any further.

Impassable, Dovahkiin whispered something and the darkened room lit brightly, revealing the way to the duo. It was a very quiet place, undisturbed, only the silent whispering of the wind in between the cracks and crumbling ruins could be heard.

"This place, I think I've heard of it," Dovahkiin began, looking around at the amazing structures, "It was a meeting place for the people of old."

"Indeed, it's a place of great importance, ancient power runs through these halls," she responded.

A gigantic door of greatness stood before them, Aela knew and understood some ancient languages, but the writing on the door eluded her. It was in the dragon tongue, the days spent with the Greybeards and Dragons made Dovahkiin an adept at understanding any dragon dialect.

As he spoke the words, the door glowed in a gold colour, Dovahkiin watched the walls glow spread to his fingertips and into his veins. The wall began to creep into his head, he pulled back and growled in pain. But the visions receded into his mind, visions that were of chaos, disorder, battle and invasion from both barbaric beings, creatures, more civil arguments and the end to the peace that Tamriel so desperately needed from the crisis's that followed these last two eras. Though the vision was sometime in the near future, he was still worried what all this could mean.

Aela noticed her husband stare into nothingness, it took the sound of her voice to snap him out if his stance.

"What happened?" she said quietly. "What did you see?"

"I saw images of the past, present and future... it's unclear," he then paused for a while, trying to sort out the images. "A tower, the tower of the Imperial City... I suppose our next destination is over the border."

"That's not all?" she responded, knowing all too well that wasn't everything. "What else did you see?"

"The collapse of the Empire, more civil discords, dangers lurking from all borders and the end of Tamriel as we know it."

She let out a annoyed sigh and shook her head, "When is all this running around going to end?"

"Is everything okay?"

"No, nothings okay. I just want all of this to end!" she remained silent as she stared into her husband's eyes. "But I know that you need to do this, and I will follow you."

Knowing that there was no point in trying to change her mind, she was determined to follow her husband wherever he would go.

"Let's go," she turned around not before her husband gently grabbed her hand. "Hmm?"

"We have some time, we should spend it together."

She placed her finger on his lip, "I truly did miss you."

He took the amulet out and looked at it. The golden outline of the ruby coloured centre, and the diamonds and precious gems placed around, with one simple glance, one could see that this was a priceless and important amulet.

"First Alduin, now this? Why me?" he turned to his wife and gave a confused expression. "I'm no-one special, I'm not royalty, my mother and father are just commoners, no-one important. Nor do I have an army that would follow me."

"That is what makes you different to all those "nobles" out there, they are supposed to protect their people, support them when difficult times appear. These nobles only care about how good they look and how much gold they have in their pockets, they don't care about us, our families and friends, they hide in their castles and fatten themselves," said Aela. "But you're different to all them, you are more alike to the proper kings, I don't care that you are not a noble, I'm glad you are not. You can handle a sword better than anyone I know and you are faster and have an endurance matched only by your passion, this is why the people of Tamriel would rather follow you."

"Thank you, I appreciate your words," replied Dovahkiin, inspired by his wife's words. "Did you happen to travel to our surrounding neighbours?"

"No, but we heard news from our neighbours that they too are busy fighting their own battles, were it not from that, they would definitely aid our effort."

"It seems we have little choice but to travel and gather allies where we can, we should go muster Farkas and Vilkas, though I'm not sure if they would be eager to travel far."

"I'll follow you too, you have a strong heart and a passion in which you would protect me and our family. This is why I follow you and love you, your passion is incredibly, it urges you to think with your passionate feelings," she placed her hand on his chest and placed a kiss on her husband's lips. "I follow you, your passion, your heart and your strength."

"Among other things, I'm sure," he gave a wide grin and his hands lowered to Aela's thighs.

She too returned a smile and chucked, a smile he all too missed, she placed her hands into her husbands, she could warm herself on his body as well as forgetting her troubles with him. "I just can't wait until all this is over."

"Neither can I, but I suppose we have to do this, for the sake of our children and everyone else in Tamriel," replied the dragonborn. "But before we head over to the imperial city, I must speak with General Tullius, he sent for, I don't know the reasons."

"Oh, so we must we going to Solitude then?"Aela frowned at the very thought.

"We shouldn't be long, I'll get the horses. It's been a while since I've been to Solitude."

"I much prefer it that way," replied Aela shaking her head. "The city itself may be beautiful, but I prefer the wind in my face and an open field and trees. The wild has so much more beauty than cities."

"I won't argue there, but let us be off."

They slowly made their way to the stables and rode off to Solitude, the head of Skyrim and the place where the most important people in Skyrim gather and interact. For Aela, it wasn't an ideal place, nobles and her shared different opinions, but she followed her husband, a man whose judgment she trusts wholly.

Solitude; the great city of Skyrim, it has been some time since he was here, and the city had changed much since the Stormcloak rebellion. Travellers and merchants from all over Tamriel came in large numbers to Solitude. Their journey no more hindered by rebels, it was no longer a near deserted city with only a few citizens, the town watch and soldiers. Now merchants and diplomats from High Rock, Morrowind, Hammerfell and Cyrodiil gathered to a place which welcomed them with open arms. As they walked by the streets, they saw the unique items and assortments the merchants brought with them, ranging from food to weaponry.

General Tullius was still stationed in Dour Castle, but his duties were more of a cleanup of the mess the rebellion had created rather than actual fighting. Aela and her husband were allowed within Dour Castle with no trouble, the previous war like features of the castle were replaced with peacetime features.

"There he is, my best and brightest, Legate, well, ex-Legate," General Tullius crossed his arms, a very small smile appeared on his face. "I didn't know if you would come, but here you are."

"General Tullius," responded Dovahkiin. "This is my wife, Aela."

"Honoured to meet you, Companion."

Aela gave a slight nod and returned the greet, "Honoured to meet you too, General."

"Come, sit down," he waved his hand to the large table that stood behind him. As usual, General Tullius got straight to the point, "You've served me well years ago, but now I have another task for you, I need you to head to the Imperial City, senator."

"Senator?" chuckled Dovahkiin who could hardly believe his ears. "I'm no senator, I'm a soldier, I fight, I can't care less for meaningless politics, I wouldn't know what to do."

"What's to know? You talk your head off in front an audience."

"You must have another agenda at hand, General?" interrupted Aela, her face revealing nothing. "My husband is no politician, and though he served you years back as a legate, he no longer has to follow your orders."

"You have a very astute wife, it's true, in truth the senator position will be a guise, I heard you are very good at these things, I need you to spy on the senators and our new emperor."

"Why?" responded Dovahkiin confusingly. "To serve what purpose?"

"Our emperor, the son of Titus Mede second is an embarrassment to everything we stand for, he gives land to the bloody high elves, conspires with the highest members of the Aldmeri Dominion. He will destroy the empire, and I won't let that happen."

"When do you need me to head to the Imperial City?"

"Right now. There's a carriage waiting for you and your wife. It would seem more plausible if you brought your wife with you," General Tullius could see the reluctance in Dovahkiin's eyes and a subtle anger in Aela's eyes. "I'm not sending you because you need to go, but remember that if the Empire falls, if the High Elf bastards get a foothold in Cyrodiil it would only be a matter of time before they strike Skyrim."

"What about Elsif, General?" Dovahkiin remembered something one of the thieves guild members mentioned to him and wanted answers. "Don't lie to me, General, I know about you and Elsif, why hide it? We can strengthen both Skyrim and Cyrodil with this union. Why not make it public?"

Tullius frowned and shook his head, "We'll make our relationship public when you head down to the Imperial City and discover what our new, dear emperor had done during his rise. And about Elsif, I'm not going to even ask how you know, but I suggest you keep it to yourself for now."

Aela simply could not understand General Tullius, he was an Imperial, but his views were often kept to himself until he decided when to reveal what he thought. She also knew that this task would cause any other ones to be sidelined, she just wanted to stop running around and deal with the problem.

"We better prepare," Dovahkiin turned to his wife and Aela nodded back.

"I suppose our current task will be hold, let us finish this as soon as possible, we can't leave it as it is."

"Yes, I know."

"The carriage awaits you two, once you have those documents return them immediately, is that understood?"

The dragonborn nodded and left with his wife, with writ seal of passage and clothing to blend in with the nobles they made their way to nearby city of Bruma to the south, just over the Jerral mountains.

We'll I back, finally, right? I already have completed the following chapter and will update. I started this story so I may as well get to the end of it. I you enjoyed it, I mean after so long. Mistakes shall be fixed, I sought of rushed this, not the finished product. It's good to be back.